From: Chad Perrin <perrin@...>
Date: 2007-11-03T04:41:23+09:00
Subject: Re: the result of Ruby official logo contest

On Fri, Nov 02, 2007 at 09:03:00PM +0900, Austin Ziegler wrote:
> 
> Ugh. That's the worst. I don't know why people think that Web 2.0
> logos would be a good idea here. Talk about dating yourself quickly
> ... to 2006.

Ignore the surroundings and fluff for a moment.  The core image is
simple, elegant, versatile, and easily slotted into any general-purpose
application of a logo (favicons, t-shirts, stickers, websites, et
cetera).  It doesn't require major modifications to suit it well to
different purposes, and with only minor additions or tweaks can be
adjusted to fit the standards of hipness for any marketing era.

Examples of logos with that sort of timeless flexibility include, but are
not limited to:

  the AT&T "Death Star"
  the Windows wavy-window (though they've screwed with it a lot)
  the Apple apple
  the SGI hypercube
  the Sun diagonal square (whith the clever "u + n = S" motif)
  the Target target

Notice that the AT&T "Death Star" logo has gained a definite
three-dimensional appearance [http://att.com], the Microsoft Windows
wavy-window is now softly center-lit and acquired both a
three-dimensional look and simplified pastel feel
[http://microsoft.com/en/us/default.aspx], the Apple apple is looking
mirrored and glossy these days, and even the Target target has acquired a
drop-reflection somewhere along the way.  SGI hs, for some reason,
decided its logo should just be three letters (it looks like crap now),
but Sun's logo hasn't really undergone any modifications to fit the new
sense of what catches people's eyes -- though it was well-enough designed
that it fits in with a color-gradient background on the website perfectly
anyway [http://sun.com/].

These logos have all gone through a number of incarnations over the
years, to fit the current marketing imagery paradigm, but have largely
remained unmolested in their core design philosophies.  They've worked
for years, and have contributed to the visibility and recognizability of
the organizations they represent.

These logos have some things in common:

  simplicity
  elegance
  versatility
  flexibility of application
  easily fit into changing trends in marketing imagery

Sound familiar?

-- 
CCD CopyWrite Chad Perrin [ http://ccd.apotheon.org ]
Phillip J. Haack: "Productivity is not about speed. It's about velocity.
You can be fast, but if you're going in the wrong direction, you're not
helping anyone."